This Week...

November 9- November 13, 2015

Reading:  This week, we focused on the characteristics of biographies.  Students learned that a biography is written about a real person and includes important events from his/her life.  Many biographies have a chronological text structure.  Students also learned how to read nonfiction reference articles by focusing on text features.  They filled out KWL charts about great white sharks.  The charts included their prior knowledge, questions, and information that they learned.  At the end of the week, students determined the “big idea” of different articles.  They figured out that the first sentence of a paragraph will usually help them find the topic.  Nonfiction text features, like captions and photographs, can also help readers figure out the big idea. Reading Logs are due Monday, November 16.  (100 minutes)

Math:  We started unit 4, which focuses on multiplication and division!  A family letter was sent home on Monday.  We practiced drawing arrays to represent basic multiplication problems.  We also solved multiplication number stories using a graphic organizer.  Then, students used counters to model simple division problems.  We also discussed the formal way to write remainders in number models.

Social Studies:  In the LMC, students completed their biome projects that focused on animal adaptations!  They also took their habitats test on Tuesday.  At the end of the week, we started the Midwest unit!  Students learned where the states and capitals are located.  A letter went home this week detailing the expectations for learning this information.  We also read about the landscape of the Midwest.  We discovered that the land was once covered with glaciers, which later formed many of our lakes.

Writing:  Students edited their personal narratives with a checklist.  They checked for proper spelling, punctuation, and capitalization.  They also revised their pieces to ensure that strong verbs and showing details were included.  Students then shared their stories with Mrs. Lo’s class.  In grammar, students learned how to write possessive nouns.

Spelling:  Students took their week 10 spelling test.

Miscellaneous:  We really enjoyed honoring a group of very special veterans on Tuesday!  We were so lucky to have them visit our class and share their stories.  We are very grateful for their service and dedication to our country!  Just a reminder, the November writing words test will be on Thursday, November 19.  This test will be cumulative and cover the October words as well.  Please let me know if you need additional copies of the lists.  November book orders are due November 20.  As the weather gets colder, please make sure your child brings warm outerwear for recess…thank you!  Have a wonderful weekend and stay warm!